heat shield

It had no heat shield, so could not be used to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.

Kosmos 482's lander capsule was built to survive the extreme heat and pressure of Venus's atmosphere, meaning it had a robust heat shield and durable structure.

It was built to survive the extreme heat and pressure of Venus's atmosphere, meaning it has a robust heat shield and durable structure.

The delay is needed to fix an issue with the capsule's heat shield, which returned from the previous test flight excessively charred and eroded, with cracks and some fragments broken off.

SpaceX upgraded the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.